


Steele Working it Out

by NorahBolt56



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorahBolt56/pseuds/NorahBolt56
Summary: Ever wondered how the man who become Remington Steele met Sue Akers, the Mykonos bar owner/soldier of fortune who concocted the cocktail he was trying to recreate at the beginning of "Elegy of Steele'? This is my take on that encounter..
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Steele Working it Out

Sue Akers looked up momentarily from wiping some glasses as she got ready to close up, to see a rather good looking young man walk into her Mykonos bar. She’d been around enough in her fifty something years to have encountered quite a few handsome fellas along the way, but this guy was something else. He was dressed casually in an open necked white shirt and tan trousers, but looked like he could have stepped off a movie set. He was tall, dark & lean and with eyes as blue as the azure waters off the island, she noticed. The healthy tan he was sporting suggested he’d spent some time in Greece or some other warm clime of late.

Mid twenties she guessed he was – twenty five or twenty six maybe, but he carried himself with a certain elegance normally associated with someone much older than his years. God if she was thirty, hell even twenty years younger she might have tried her luck with him she thought mischievously, noticing a few of her female staff unable to take their eyes off him, and she had to admit she couldn’t blame them.

“What can I get you handsome?” she asked with a broad smile as he came up to the bar. “I’m not far off closing but I’m sure I can whip you up something. What’s your poison?”

The young man flashed her a lopsided grin and thanked her in a rather cultured English accent that surprised her somewhat as he scanned the various bottles on the shelves behind her, trying to decide what to order.

“So what brings you to Mykonos and my bar? I'm Sue Akers by the way,” she asked, making conversation. “I gather from your accent you’re not from around here?’

“Nice to meet you Sue. No indeed I’m not from around here but I could say the same about you eh?” he replied somewhat cheekily, in reference to her American accent.

“Touche,” Sue laughed, warming to him instantly, noticing with interest that he hadn't introduced himself in return.

“I’ve ah.. been working as a ship hand on a cargo ship. Well until today at least. I decided I needed a good stiff drink after the day I’ve had and someone recommended your fine establishment here,” he replied with a wry half smile.

“Oh you’re not one of Marcos Androkos’s crew are you? I heard what happened to his tanker – damn shame that. How’s the ole smuggler doing? That must have been hard for him seeing his dream go up in smoke before his eyes,” Sue asked as she shook her head.

“You know Marcos?“ he asked as Sue smiled. “Yeah me and Marcos go way back.”

“Well he was surprisingly ok about it actually – I think the other blokes and I were more upset than he was. He was even laughing and when I asked him why he was laughing he turned to me and said, ‘ _Because, Xenos from now on - everything is new again, eh? Just think of the possibilities_ ’,” he stated, doing a pretty good impersonation of the Greek smuggler Sue thought to herself.

“Xenos hey? So let me guess – no name, no questions?” she asked with a knowing smile. This kid had a story – that much she was sure of. And quite a few interesting chapters of it left to write she guessed.

“Something like that,” he replied with the hint of a sheepish smile as Sue nodded. She’d met enough people from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ or of dubious professions over the years to know when to pry and when to not.

“You know what? I like you kid and I don’t care a fig about what your name is. If Xenos was good enough for Marcos it’s good enough for me. Now I am going to make you one of my own concoctions, on the house – I call it a Tropical Itch and trust me you’ve never tasted anything better in your whole life,” Sue said with a wink as she grabbed a cocktail glass and poured some ice into it.

Then she grabbed a cocktail shaker and began pouring various ingredients into it. ‘Xenos’ watched her with a keen eye, trying to note and remember all the ingredients as she added them - he spied a generous amount of vodka, a splash of rum, a dash of Angostura bitters, some passionfruit juice by the looks of things and then a drop or two of a few other ingredients he didn’t quite catch. She then shook it up then proceeded to strain it into another container before pouring it into the glass. She then added a slice of lemon and a slice of pineapple to the rim of the glass for garnish, then to finish it off, added a straw and a wooden back scratcher to the glass. “There you go – get that into you,” she urged the young man as he grinned and thanked her, then lifted the glass to her saying, “Your health,” before taking a sip.

“Oh my – that is good!” he exclaimed. She hadn’t been wrong - it was one of the most delicious things he had tasted in his life.

“Damn right it is!” she laughed as he downed it rather quickly.

“Another?” she asked as he gratefully nodded.

“So what brought you to a bar in Mykonos Sue?” Xenos asked as she smiled wryly and replied, “Well that’s a long story my young friend.”

“I’m not going anywhere – not for tonight anyway,” he retorted as he gave her an expectant look and made himself comfortable on the bar stool. “Okay, okay,” she laughed. “Well let’s see – I was a WAC, Women’s Army Corps, during WW II and saw some overseas service, including in Greece. After the War ended, I decided there wasn’t much at home waiting for me – no family, no sweetheart,” she stated with a hint of sadness, “so I decided to stay. I did move around a bit at first – wherever there was a job. I was a soldier of fortune for quite a few years.”

Xenos looked at her with some surprise at her admission. “Surprised?” Sue asked with a chuckle, observing his expression. “I guess It’s not really a ‘traditional’ job for a woman but I had certain skills shall we say, so I put them to good use.”

“More impressed than surprised I’d say. That took some guts to take on a career like that in such a male dominated field,” he stated with admiration.

“Well any woman worth her salt isn’t afraid to try and make her mark in what is still pretty much a man’s world,” Sue said adamantly as Xenos nodded, realising that was true.

“Then after a few too many close calls with the authorities I thought it best to lay low for a while and that’s when I found this place up for sale and I’ve been here ever since. Going on for almost fifteen years now,” she continued.

While they downed a few more cocktails that Sue made for the two of them, they chatted and laughed, enjoying each other’s company. Never really having had a ‘mother figure’ in his life, the young man found he quite liked having an older, wiser lady to chat to. He didn’t really chat too much to the younger women he spent his time with, preferring to ‘pass the time’ in other ways with them, so he found it interesting to hear a woman’s perspective on a range of matters.

Eventually the topic of their conversation turned to matters of love. “So no husband or children then?” Xenos asked Sue as she shook her head a little wryly. “No – I guess that wasn’t in my destiny. Given my previous line of work though that was probably a good thing. I was engaged once.. a long time ago but ..well that didn’t work out,” she replied, focusing her gaze momentarily on the floor before forcing a smile back onto her face.

“What happened?” Xenos asked, hoping she wouldn’t be annoyed by his curiosity. He just found her fascinating – he’d never met a woman quite like her and he wanted to learn more about her interesting life.

“He was a pilot and a damn good one too. We met at a dance and well if you believe in love at first sight, that’s what we had. We were engaged within a few months and had planned to get married the following summer but..,” Sue hesitated for a moment before continuing, “He was shot down over Germany – I got a telegram to say he was MIA presumed dead. So I moved on with my life as best I could, but as far as love goes, that was it for me.”

“I’m sorry. I ah.. didn’t meant to pry,” the young man apologized, suddenly feeling bad that he had caused her to have to relive those painful memories.

“Nah don’t worry about it kid. Nothing wrong with being curious,” Sue allayed his worries with a smile. “Anyway enough about me – what about you? By the looks you’re getting from the young fillies round here and the fact you’re a handsome son of a devil, I gather you don’t have any trouble with the ladies. But have you ever really been in love with any of them?” she asked as he looked a little uncomfortable. Now it was his turn to focus his gaze on the floor. “No.. not really,” he confessed as he tugged on an earlobe.

Sue regarded him for a moment then stated confidently, “Well you will one day.”

“Yeah? When?” he asked a little skeptically as he took another swig of his drink.

Sue patted him on the hand and replied wisely, “You will when the time’s right my young friend and when you meet the right woman. Something tells me you’re going to need something more than one of these airheaded floosies to capture your heart.”

“Hmm maybe,” he agreed as he rested his face in his hand.

“Well let me give you a word of advice – when you do find her, hold onto her and don’t let her go. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, a life without love can be very lonely. Not that I’m not happy here but well it would be nice to have someone to share it with,” Sue sighed a little wistfully.

Xenos looked at her, his blue eyes seeming even bluer with a bit of drink in him she noticed, as he asked a little ruefully, “Well for a woman of the world such as yourself – what would you say is the perfect recipe for love? It certainly seems to have alluded me so far.”

“Well kid – like my Tropical Itch here, everyone makes that recipe a little differently and puts their own signature on it. It might take a bit of trying, but one day you’re gonna get that recipe just right,” Sue answered with a warm smile.

“What – the cocktail or love?” Xenos asked with a laugh as Sue chuckled in return with a twinkle in her eye, “Both.”

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End file.
